Lantana police: Woman attacked in Publix lot, tracks suspects down with social media

After a woman was attacked this month in a Lantana Publix parking lot by two people over a scuffed car door, she tracked down her attackers through social media, according to a police report released Friday.

On Jan. 12, a 25-year-old woman was sitting in her car parked outside the store sending a text message when she felt her car shake, Lantana police said. She looked over and saw a woman, later identified as Tiffany James, getting out of her car. Though she saw no damage, she told investigators she confronted James for hitting her door. James yelled back and approached her, so the woman took off her glasses, according to the report.

Tiffany James

When she turned to face James, a man, later identified as Demonte Williams, attacked her from behind, knocking her to the ground, according to police. As Williams made his way back to the driver side of the car to get away, the woman ran to the back of the car to get the license-plate number and was attacked by James, according to the report. James choked and beat her to the ground, police said.

After police and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue were called to the scene, on Lantana Road just east of Interstate 95, she was able to give a partial license plate number but declined medical attention because her 6-month-old child was in the back seat of her car.

Demonte Williams

Though police were unable to make a match with any local cars with the partial tag number, the woman who was attacked did some investigating on her on, authorities said.

A week after the attack, she went to the Lantana Police Department, providing all of her hospital discharge papers to show her injures but also the names of the two individuals who attacked her, according to the report.

She told investigators she and another person drove around the area to see if they could find the car she saw with the partial tag. When they found one, she told police she searched for the owners online and came up with James’ name. From there, she found James on Facebook and saw a photo of Williams on the page and recognized him as the man who attacked her.

Williams, 31, and James, 37, were arrested Thursday on battery charges. Williams is being held on $10,000 bail while James is being held on $5,000, according to jail records. Both remained in jail as of Friday evening.